Just Twice
by Xelan
Summary: Set in the same universe as Just Once. H/Hr story with a bit of mystery. Never written one before so don't expect miracles. Title is subject to change.


Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.

A/N: Special thanks to Ralph for his beta work. All right. No one seemed to like the "surely/Shirley" joke. Redacted.

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"No, absolutely not!"

"But Mum!"

"No! I won't have you getting a reputation as a scarlet woman."

"I'll be an adult witch in a few more years... You can't tell me what to do!"

"Well, you're NOT an adult witch yet, and so long as you live under MY roof, you will follow MY rules." Molly looked down her nose at her youngest; practically daring her to contradict.

Ginny narrowed her eyes. She'd been in arguments with her Mother before. Her mother was crafty and she knew exactly which buttons to press to get Ginny to land herself in even more trouble. No, she wouldn't rise to take the lure. She wouldn't allow herself to be baited. She turned abruptly on her heel, and began stalking away before she could say a word to earn herself a harsher punishment.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley! Don't you dare turn your back on me when I'm talking to you! Why I never! I did not raise such a daughter, to disrespect her mother in such a way. You will go straight to your room without any supper, but before you go, I will make doubly certain that you don't even think of disobeying me."

Shocked at the sudden turn of events, Ginny whirled back around to behold the sight of her mother pointing a wand toward her. She wished desperately that she had her wand, but her mother routinely confiscated it during the summer holidays. Normally, she could expect it back a week before school began, but as things stood she would be lucky to get it back any sooner than 8 days from now and by then she'd be packing to go to the station on the morning of the 9th day. She felt shivers running up her spine even as she tried to side step the spell. "Surely you're not thinking of casting THAT spell on me? I mean, I thought you trusted me," she tried to stall.

Molly smiled even as her wand completed the first few of several complex wand movements. A slight glow appeared around Ginny's body that mirrored the glow at the wand's tip. In a patronizing tone, Molly said, "Of course I trust you, dear. It's those boys at Hogwarts I don't trust. Though, I will admit that I sometimes wonder if you would resist their advances without a little incentive. However, this Prewitt Family spell should take care of the incentive part quite nicely."

Ginny palmed her face while trying to suppress a shudder at her mum's idea of trust. The spell must have started to really take effect because she felt her body take on a sudden warm and tingly feeling. Ginny blushed involuntarily.

As she finished the last part of the incantation and completed the last flick of her wand, Molly breathed a sigh of relief. This particular spell wasn't used often in the family's past, but it was part of the spell repertoire that had been passed from mother to daughter since time immemorial. No physical contact with any males who aren't blood related unless the Ginny wanted to fall unconscious. And though Molly often feared Ginny had an inclination to be rather loose, she was certain that Ginny wouldn't leave herself so completely vulnerable in front of a man. This way, she was certain, that Ginny would leave herself completely pure and unspoilt for the day that a certain wealthy young orphan decided to formally propose, and the spell could then be swapped out for the fiancé approved version. She sighed. _I can see it now. It will be so romantic. Almost the same as when Arthur proposed to me. He barely needed any love potion at all to spark his interest. _She raised a less than dainty hand to her cheek as she recalled the blank, potion fueled stare, and the almost desperate, depraved acts they'd performed together that ended up resulting in their marriage and their first child. _Pity about the 'accidental' miscarriage... well, at least that's what I've always led Arthur to believe__._

Ginny lay staring up at the ceiling as her mum entered into another delusion. The downside to the Prewitt Family spells was that they were effective and virtually impossible to break. They only worked on those of Prewitt Blood and were purportedly age locked so the caster had to be older than the castee. On the upside, they provided the castee with certain pleasurable and very stimulating feelings as they took effect. _Probably to encourage cooperation as the spells were being cast_, Ginny silently mused. This certainly changed her plans.

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Hermione shifted on the sofa for the umpteenth time. The cushions were as comfortable as ever, but this particular sofa had wooden arms with very little padding. Try as she might she just could not get comfortable to finish her reviewing. _There's no helping it,_ she finally decided. Her favorite pillow was missing. It was nowhere to be found when she'd returned to the small private common room she shared with the Head Boy and she eventually decided to just try and study without it. After all, it always turned up after a little while anyway, so she wasn't terribly worried. Once more, she sat up and rubbed her neck. _Well, I hadn__'t been worried until now_, she sighed.

The portrait door opened and in dashed the aforementioned Head Boy. He appeared to be in a hurry to dash up the stairs that lead to the two bedrooms allotted to the Head Boy and Head Girl. He spotted her before he even set his foot down on the first step and abruptly changed directions.

Breathing a sigh of relief that he was all right, she smiled happily at him and waved him over. He literally sprinted to reach her. Dropping his bookbag on the small coffee table in front of the sofa, he quickly seated himself so that Hermione could rest her head on his lap. She settled down comfortably as if this was a common, everyday occurrence. And of course, it was.

"Aah... I really missed my lap pillow," she joked in a languid tone.

"I'll bet you did," returned Harry. He alternated scratching and rubbing his fingers through her fragrant, soft curls. "I'm sorry I was late getting back to the room. Professor Flamel asked me to stop by and see him after I finished my rounds."

This caused Hermione to quirk an eyebrow. "Why would Professor Flamel want to see you?"

Harry chuckled a little and then leaned forward to kiss her lovingly on the forehead. The kiss brought a bright smile to Hermione's face. "That's exactly what I wondered. I'm glad and a little scared of how similarly we think sometimes," Harry continued and then attempted a roguish look.

Hermione chuckled at that. "Well, when you're together constantly for nearly 7 years, it's to be expected. Now, quit stalling and tell me what the professor wanted."

"Apparently Snape left quite a few notes behind for future potions professors. Those notes contained mention of the stolen boomslang skin from our second year." Harry gave Hermione a knowing look.

This got Hermione's attention. "But why would he want to speak with you about that? You didn't take the boomslang skin, I did."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes, but Snape never did know exactly who took it; he just knew that someone took some of his private stock and that the person who did it never got caught." Harry coughed and it sounded suspiciously liked he was saying 'cloak'. "We both know he had a Potter fixation from way back and just as we had expected, he wrote my name down as his prime suspect even if he had very little in the way of evidence."

"All right. Thus far that makes perfect sense except for one thing."

"Right. Why is Professor Flamel bringing up something that happened 5 years ago?"

"You took the words right out of my mouth," she said with a slightly disappointed sigh.

Harry could have sworn she had said "And you didn't even do it the fun way" while she was sighing. He chuckled even if it was only in his imagination. "Well, as I'm sure you've already guessed, the reason he asked me to stop by his office was because he wanted to know if I knew why HE was suddenly missing a sizeable quantity of boomslang skin as well."

This caused Hermione to sit up abruptly. "Someone actually stole restricted potions ingredients from Nicholas Flamel?"

Harry gently pulled her back down into his lap. "Yes, and don't act so surprised. I know you already suspected that's where the conversation was going. And before you ask, no it wasn't me. It wasn't you, was it?"

Hermione shook her head no.

"I thought not. You usually invite me in on any fun ideas, so I was reasonably certain it wasn't the either of us. I wasn't aware of anyone else with the drive and cunning to get into Professor Flamel's private store room and I told him so. He seemed to take me for my word without Legilimancing me (which was a pleasant change from past years) and simply asked if we would keep an eye out for his missing supplies."

She turned a little to look Harry in the eye. "He didn't insinuate anything about your involvement, did he?"

Harry shook his head. "Nope, he was unfailingly polite. I never got the slightest hint of accusation from him. Though, I imagine with 600+ years of experience, he's probably such a good interrogator now that he doesn't need cheap tricks."

"Probably true," Hermione acknowledged.

His big news now shared, Harry leaned back and lazily continued his ministrations.

Hermione luxuriated at Harry's touch and snuggled deeper into his lap. A thought occurred to her that she had been meaning to bring up. "You'll never guess who's been showing up regularly to our study group."

Harry looked thoughtful as he considered who he knew that already attended the fast paced study sessions and who had the potential for actually keeping up. It wasn't that they were exclusive per se, but they moved so fast and already had such a high level of understanding that most students were intimidated and didn't come back after the first meeting. "Daphne Greengrass perhaps? I know you said Tracy was going to try and convince her to come more often."

Hermione smirked slightly. "No, but you're close. Pansy Parkinson's been coming by pretty regularly for the past couple weeks. It turns out that without Draco around to whisper idiotic ideas in her ears, she's pretty intelligent; although, her potions skills could use some work. Honestly, Snape did that entire house a terrible disservice by passing students simply because they were in his house. In any case, we've all been spending time reviewing potions with her. She's improved a lot."

"That's interesting. How is the future Mrs. Longbottom taking it?"

Hermione sat up and motioned for them to trade positions. "You might want to make yourself comfortable, this could take a while."

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*tap* *tap*

"What is it? Can't you see I'm busy reading about the last Cannon's match?" He turned around to see who it was that was bothering him. Oddly enough it was Hermione. "What now, Granger? Looking for another way you can embarrass me in front of the entire dormitory or is that not enough for you anymore. Gonna try and embarrass me in front of the entire school this time?" The last part was said with a slightly raised voice and a hint of venom.

She coughed. "Ahem, Ron, I could use your help with something."

"If you've caught a cold, then you can get someone else to escort you to the hospital wing. We're not exactly close friends as I recall."

She leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the lips.

Ron was gobsmacked, to say the least. He was completely silent, further proof that he was well and truly shocked by this turn of events.

"Now that I've got your attention, I want you to follow me." She turned and began walking quickly away.

His Quidditch magazine forgotten, he hurried after the retreating brunette.

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*Knock* *Knock*

"Come in, Ginny. The door's not locked!"

The door creaked open and the redhead stuck her head in cautiously, mindful of all the potential pranking materials in the shop. "How did you know it was me?" she asked suspiciously.

"Simple as Ronny-kins," Fred explained.

George continued, "No one but employees and family can get into the store's work area without us knowing. Aside from Harry and Hermione, no one else would even contemplate knocking. They'd just barge in–"

"–without knocking– "

"–in much the same way you would if you didn't want something." George completed sagely. The effect was somewhat lessened by the smirk that appeared on both his and Fred's face.

"Want something? I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you mean." Ginny asserted with a remarkably straight face. She ran toward her brothers and hugged them both as tightly as possible.

Fred looked at his brother and both nodded at the same time. They had been somewhat joking earlier, but when their darling, little, and only sister acted nice AND loving, then something was surely going on.

"So, now that I'm here and I've greeted you two troublemakers properly, would you care to explain that remark about Harry and Hermione?"

"It really doesn't need any explaining, Gin. Harry is part owner and Hermione is _with_ Harry. Of course Harry, and by extension Hermione, is always welcome at our shop."

That was a very confusing answer for Ginny. It just didn't make sense to her. So despite her inability to put all the pieces together, she did give it her best shot. _But Hermione isn't always WITH Harry ALL the time._ _So why treat her differently? Harry as part owner and as my future husband I can certainly understand, but not Hermione... Maybe because Ron seems to fancy her?_ Ginny wondered.

Noting the confused look on their baby sister's face, the twins rolled their eyes.

_I mean, I see Harry without Hermione every so often, so they're not inseparable. Also, someday soon, Harry will get it through his phenomenally thick skull and realize he loves me and that we're destined to be together. _

A hand was snapping fingers in front of her face. *snap* Wizard Wheezes to Gin. Come in Gin."

"Huh?"

"You zoned out there for a moment. Now, do you want to tell us what brought you to our new shop in Hogsmeade?"

Ginny sighed. They weren't going to let this go. "Well, I was wondering if you might have some boomslang skin you could spare?"

As one, the two redheaded men blinked their eyes. "Boomslang skin?" they both said. They were confused and when they got confused they talked increasingly more in unison. "Why would you need rarities from our meager stock of rare potion ingredients when according to our sources, Professor Flamel has an extensive supply in his own personal stock?"

Ginny narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Considering you graduated before Professor Flamel started, I'd wonder how you know so much about him and his potions supplies."

"That's another easy one. Hermione was talking about it when she came by not too long ago. She was showing her friends from her study group around. We thought it would be good advertising by word of mouth, so we offered them all a Pygmy Puff in honor of their first visit; shame about that one Slytherin girl breaking out in a rash. That's our first confirmed case of someone actually being allergic to one of our Puffs."

"Ah. Well, I suppose that makes sense. So, can I have some of your boomslang skin or not?"

"Perhaps..."

"Perhaps what?" she demanded.

"Perhaps we'll give you some if you tell us why you need it and why you haven't just stolen it from the Potion Master's private stores like a good Weasley."

"The answer to your first question is that I can't get any from Flamel because someone took his entire stash before I even knew he had a private stock. In answer to you second question, well... Mum cast a spell on me, and-"

With a flick of George's wand and a soft incantation, the doors and windows bolted securely. Fred's wand was also in motion and Ginny could just make out the words to the silencing and privacy spells he was applying. "Perhaps you had better tell us everything from the beginning..."_  
><em> 

TBC...

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